Enclosed swinging concealed head lamp



April 21, 1953 F. J. SALZER 2,636,111

ENCLOSED SWINGING CONCEALED HEAD LAMP Filed June 9, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l 2 8] 67 @5 15 f/(I. Z 66 do 15 72 28 27 i. INVENTOR.

22 42 FQANK J JALZf/Q 3 By mjf r.

A'ITD RN EYS April 21, 1953 F. J. SALZER 2,636,111 ENCLOSED swmcmc CONCEALED HEAD LAMP Filed June 9, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR. FRA/V/(J. 5/4125? ATT'CI R N EYS Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,636,111 ENCLOSED W N CONCEALED HEAD LAMP Frank J. Salzer, Chicago, Ill. Application June 9, 1949, Serial No. 97,999

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in motor vehicle illumination, and more particularly to swinging concealed headlamps which are adapted to be angularly displaced in the direction of vehicle turning to illuminate the roadway while negotiating turns and curves.

One object of the invention is to provide a pair of horizontally swinging reflector-lens units movably mounted in back of a stationary lens having the same arc of curvature as the lens of said lens reflector unit such that the reflected beam will be uniformly modified to obtain maximum illumination throughout the various positions of horizontal angular displacement.

Another object is to provide a pair of headlamps for motor vehicles to illuminate the roadway in the direction of turning, and in which the reflector-lens illuminating units are mounted to swing horizontally about a fixed vertical pivot and to provide means independent of said pivot axis for adjusting the tilt or elevation of the headlight beam so that the beam will not rise and fall when swung through a complete arc in back of the headlight casing.

Another object is to provi'dea pai'rflof swinging concealed headlamps or lens-refieetor illuminating units having lr'ockably mounted supporting blocks to facilitate adjustment thereof about ahorizontal pivotaxis to enablefthe' headlamp beam tobe raised or'lowered and adjusted to conformto the requirementsoffthetraffic law's.

Another object is to provide .a pair of headlamps for a motor vehicle eachvof which includes a sealed-beam illuminating unit. consisting of .a

unitary lensreflector unit mountedona swinging block in backof awindow opening in the fender apron of the vehicle, and to provide a spherical lens for enclosing the sealed beam lens reflector unit to conceal the same ,and yexclude rain, snow andinclement weather conditions.

Another object isto provide a pair Qfheadlamps for motor vehicles which includes a pair of sealed-beam lens-reflector units swingaloly mounted rearwardly of a transparent windowflin the fender apron oiflthe vehicle and corjnieeted together to move invuni'son' in-. a direction. corresponding to the direfctionpof vehicletturning and to provide means forpermitting movement of the steering apparatus tonisplacemhesteering wheels angularly at an approximate distance of 5 degrees in bothdirections of steerin'gmovement without changing the angular position of the sealed-beam lens reflector' unit from A its normal position.

lamps for motor vehicles of the above mentioned type in which means is provided for centering the sealed-beam headlight units when returning to a straight ahead position and to provide means for automatically shifting said headlamps to their centered straight ahead position when being returned after a curve or turn has been negotiated by the steering apparatus of the vehicle.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a motor vehicle illustrating the manner in which the spherical lenses are arranged in the fender aprons thereof.

Figure 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on line 2i--2of Figure 1 and looking in the directionof the arrows to illustrate the manner in which the sealed-beam lens-reflector units are mounted to swing" horizontally about a vertical pivot axis.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional View of the fender structure and spherical lens to illustrate the sealed-beam lens-refleetor illuminating unit supporting structure in top elevation. Parts of the supporting structure being brokenaway to illustrate various details of construction.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross sectional view through one of the headlamp units taken on line 4+5 of Figure 3 and illustratingthe manner inwhich the sealedloeam' reflectorlensilluminating unitcan be tilted about a horizontal.pivot axis to control the elevation of the roadway illuminating beam. 4

Figure 5 ;is a vertical cross s'ectional fragmentary view/taken on the lineii-fi of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows to illustrate the yielding spring press detent ball for shifting the sealed-beamlens-reflector il1urninatingunitto its centered forward position when approaching;said straight forward position after aturn or curve has been negotiated;

Figure 6 is a fragm ary crosssectional view taken on line 6--5;Qf -Fig re jillustrating thelost motion pin'and'slot connection between the actuator rod to permit slight -angular-steeringn1ovement to the right orleftavithoutcontrolling the sealed-beam lens refflector illuminating means;

Figure! is ajrontelevational view showin a fragmentary portion of one oi the fenders and one of the headlampslsupporting structures with thetlens-refiector unit rernovedgi and Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the connection between the vehicle steering head and the rod.

In the drawings, and more in detail, there is shown for the purpose of convenience of illustration the front of a motor vehicle generally designated 5 having a radiator apron 5 and streamlined fenders l. The front fenders l are providedwith openings 8 (Figs. 3 and 4) in which is fitted an ovate frame or body member 9. The frame or body member 9 includes a base 2 which is secured to the fenders l, and a bracket 3 coacts with base 2 to hold therebetween a lens l0. Screws ll maintain these parts in assembled relation. The are of the spherical lens i0 is generated from the same radius as the horizontally swinging lens-reflector unit which will be described herein more fully. The lenses it are identical for the right and left hand fenders l of the motor vehicle 5, and said lenses are of somewhat hemispherical shape in horizontal section, as well as vertical section, and are constructed to fit the contour of the fenders i so that the edges thereof will be received in a recess l2 in the frames 9.

Extending between the frames 9 and rearwardly of the radiator apron 5 is a transverse bar M which is provided at its ends with laterally extending projections (Fig. 2), and the projections l5 are connected to frame members it which are formed of suitable castings and may, if desired, be integrated with the extensions Hi. The rectangular frames l6 are provided adjacent the projection l5 with arcuately curved portions [8 (Fig. 7) which are adapted to engage the diametral portions of the lens frame 9 and be secured thereto by welding or suitable threaded fasteners. Each of the frames iii are also provided with extensions l9 which engage the opposite diametra1 portion of each of the frames 9 and may likewise be held in place by welding or suitable threaded fasteners (not shown).

Since each of the headlight structures are identical in construction, a description of one will suflice for both. The frame It is provided with a central opening (Fig. '7) having opposed bearing bosses 2i and 22 provided with aligned bearing openings 23 and 24 respectively. A block 25 is mounted between the horizontal arms of said frame it, and is provided with a vertical opening 25 for receiving a pivot'pin 2?. The lower end of the pivot pin is provided with an enlarged head 28 which engages the bearing boss 2! on the lower arm of the frame it, and the upper end is threaded as at 25 for receiving a correspondingly threaded retaining nut 30. A cotter key 3| is passed through a transverse opening in the threaded portion of the bolt ill to secure the nut in place. suitable washers 32 and 33 are interposed between the head or top end of the frame 16 and the swinging block 25, as well as between the lower leg of said block, respectively. Formed integral with said block 25 is a pair of forwardly extending projections 35 between which is rockably mounted a lens-reflector supporting block 35 on a horizontal pivot pin 36. The lens-reflector supporting block 35 is of substantially square section and is provided with a forwardly extending portion 3? of round section to accommodate a clamping ring 58 having radially extending spider arms 58. The clamping ring 38 is held in place by circumferentially spaced set screws or the like 50. The outer face of the round projection 3'! is concave as at M to conform to the parabolic shape of a reflector 42 of a sealed-beam headlamp generally desiglens ortion 55 is likewise of glass and is inte-' grated at its peripheral edge with the reflector portion 12. A socket member M5 is carried by the reflector portion and is received in a round recess 47 extending inwardly from the concave face iii of the supporting block 35. It is to be noted, that the radii of the lens ill and lens 45 are of a diiferent length and emanate from the samecentral point which both horizontally and vertically are generated on an are adjacent the transverse and longitudinal center point of the pin 21.

Mounted on the top of the block 25 and beneath the top leg or arm of the frame It is an adjusting plate 58 which is provided with a central opening :5 for encircling the washer 32 (Fig. 4), and said plate is of ring-like design having opposite Projections 5i and 52 (Fig. 3) which are connected to the block 25 and to the rocking block 35 respectively, by means of screws'53 and 54. The screw 55 extends through the tapered projection 52 and the screw 53 passes through a slot 55 in the projection 5i so that by sliding the ring-shaped plate 58 forwardly and rearwardly the block 35 will be rocked about its horizontal pivot axis 55 and causethe reflector-lens illuminating unit 43 to be raised or lowered as indicated by the full and dotted line positions in Figure i. The angular adjustment is effected by means of a set screw 51 which extends through an angular projection 58 on the circular plate extension 5!.

Formed on the lower arm of the frame It isa rearwardly extending shelf 59 which is provided with a V-notch 50 for receiving a ball detent 6| which is yieldingly and slidably received in a vertical bore 52 in the horizontally swinging block 25 and is yieldingly urged into the V-notch 60 by means of a coil spring 63.

Formed integral with the horizon-tally swinging block 25 is a rearwardly extending arm or finger 65 which is provided with an elongated slot 66 for receiving a clevis pin 61. As illustrated in Figure 2, the rearwardly extending arms 65 are adapted to be connected by a horizontal tie rod 63 which is slidably guided in aligned bores 10 of the angular extensions l5 carried by said supporting rod 14. The ends of said rods 58 are fitted with clevis couplings 12 by means of the pin and slot conections 13 and M, and said clevis is held in place by the bolt or clevis pin 5! which has an enlarged head 14 which engages the top furcation of the clevis 12 while a retaining nut 15 is threaded on the correspondingly threaded end 15 of the clevis bolt 67. The lower furcation 11 extends beneath the rearwardly extending projection765 as is clearly shown in Figure 4.

The tie rod 58 is provided with a rack portion which is adapted to be engaged by means of a gear wheel 8| which is mounted on a shaft 82, Figures 2 and 8, and the shaft 82 is adapted to be controlled by the steering rod 95, Figure 8. A bevel gear 96 is mounted on an end of the rod and the gear 96 is arranged in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 57 on the adjacent end of the shaft 82. Thus, when the wheels of the vehicle 5 are steered to the right or left, the lensrefiector units 43 will be moved in a correspond ing direction, and by reason of the pin and slot connection 1314 the steering gear may be turned in either direction to displace the steering wheels approximately 5 degrees before the reflector lens illuminating unit 43 will be angularly displaced in a corresponding direction to illuminate the roadway immediately in front of the vehicle while making turns or curves.

Suitable wiring 90 for electrically connecting the socket member 46 with a source of electrical energy (not shown), is provided and a switch or circuit breaker likewise not shown, may be provided for electrically connecting the source of energy to the filament of the lens-reflector illuminating unit 43 to energize the same.

In operation, when the steering gear of the motor vehicle 5 (not shown) is operated to control the steering wheels the gear wheel 8| will be rotated to shift the tie rod 68 in a corresponding direction and thereby swing the reflector lens illuminating units 43 in a corresponding direction about the vertical pivot axis of the pin 21. When the steering wheels are returned to their normal straight forward position, the yielding detent ball 6| will engage the V-notch 60 and cause the reflector-lens illuminating units 43 to move to their centered position under the influence of the spring 63 in advance of the tie rod 68. Thus, the lens-reflector units 43 will return to their normal position slightly in advance of the steering gear and tie rod 68 and will then be held centered by the ball detent Bl even though the steering gear is operated to angularly displace the steering wheels a slight angular distance in either direction of steering.

When it is desired to adjust the horizontal level of the headlight beam, the screws 53 and 54 are loosened, and the adjusting screw 51 is turned until the proper elevation of the lens-reflector unit 43 is attained. It being noted that adjustment of the screw 51 will rock the block 35 about the horizontal pivot axis 35, and since the block 35 solely supports the lens-reflector illuminating unit 43 said unit will be likewise adjusted.

By reason of the fact that the lenses l0 and 45 are of different radii about the same point of arc, the maximum illumination will be attained when the reflector-lens unit 43 approaches the limit of its horizontal angular movement in either direction since the beam from the light source will be modified to the same extent as it passes through all portions of the lenses l0 and 45.

What I claim is:

Dirigible headlights for a motor vehicle, comprising a pair of ovate stationary body members, a hemispherical lens mounted in. each of said body members, a transverse bar extending between said pair of body members and having a laterally extending projection on each end thereof, a frame connected to each of said projections and including horizontally disposed arms provided with a central opening, opposed bearing bosses mounted on the top and bottom of said frames and provided with registering apertures, a block mounted between the horizontal arms of each frame and provided with an aperture registering with the apertures in said bearing bosses, a pivot pin extending through said registering apertures, a pair of projections extending forwardly from said block, a lens reflector supporting member pivotal- 1y mounted between said pair of projections, a sealed beam unit connected to each of said supporting members, means for adjusting the angular position of the sealed beam units about a horizontal axis, a finger extending rearwardly from each of said blocks, a horizontally disposed tie rod extending between said pair of fingers and pivotally connected thereto, a rack portion mounted on said tie rod, and a gear wheel meshing with said rack portion and adapted to be operated by a steering wheel.

FRANK J. SALZER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,241,410 McLean et a1 Sept. 25, 1917 1,765,813 Witter June 24, 1930 2,434,766 Herrington Jan. 2c, 1948 2,512,817 Thompson June 27, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 350,741 Italy July 21, 1937 

